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A massive boa constrictor slithered into a drain Sunday in Rockland County before being saved by a former local exotic pet store owner, according to unsettling video and reports.
The serpent slid into a storm drain on the suburban street Orchard Lane in Nanuet, shocking footage posted on Facebook by Rockland County resident Bridget Moschetti shows.
Moschetti spotted the snake on the ground around 3 p.m. Sunday — and immediately started recording as it wriggled into the drain, Patch reported.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she told the local news outlet. “I got closer, and I called the Clarkstown police. At first they weren’t really helpful. They said, ‘It’s wildlife,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s 15-16 feet long and as big around as my thigh.'”
“I’m like ‘Oh my god, this is somebody’s pet,'” she said. “This is so sad.”
A rescuer told Patch the male boa was roughly 7 feet long.
The Haverstraw resident then posted the video on Clarkstown community Facebook, hoping someone could save the animal.
John Tarrant — the former owner of Outragehisss Pets, a now-shuttered business that specialized in presenting exotic animals to audiences — saw the video and plea for help while at a family barbecue, springing him into action, according to Patch.
After checking out the situation, the snake charmer and his wife, Elizabeth Tarrant, then headed to a Home Depot to pick up supplies.
Using duct tape, they jerry-rigged a PVC pipe with a milk jug to create a serpent-saving device — slowly pushing the snake toward them, the site reported.
The process took hours — but they were able to retrieve the snake, who was “a little defensive.”
“I can’t imagine he ‘just got out’,” said Elizabeth Tarrant, according to Patch. “He was clearly very well taken care of — up until the point where he ended up in the storm drain.”
The Tarrants enjoyed the snake-saving experience.
“This was like our kind of night,” she told Patch. “We loved every minute of it. It was a good outcome.”
The apparently abandoned boa is now set to find a new home.
“John has multiple friends who own snakes and will find a new home for it,” Rockland Report posted on Facebook Sunday night.